Tencent's Controversy Over "24,589 COVID-19 Deaths" Figure... Allegations of Death Toll Underreporting

Published 06 Feb.2020 16:45(KST)

Updated 07 Feb.2020 07:09(KST)

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On the afternoon of the 1st, figures posted on 'Epidemic Situation Tracker' of 'QQ.com' operated by Tencent / Photo by Taiwan News broadcast screen capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Seunggon Han, Intern Reporter Sungyeol Kim] Chinese internet company Tencent has sparked controversy after it was revealed that they listed the death toll from the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) as 24,589.

On the 5th (local time), Taiwan's English news outlet 'Taiwan News' reported an article titled "Tencent Accidentally Leaks Actual Death Toll of Wuhan Virus".

The article stated that Tencent's portal site 'QQ.com' reported the number of deaths from Wuhan pneumonia as 24,589, which is more than 90 times higher than the figure announced by the Chinese government.

According to the report, on the 1st at around 11:39 PM, QQ.com displayed on its 'Epidemic Situation Tracker' 15,4023 confirmed cases and 24,589 deaths.

It also listed 79,808 suspected cases and 269 discharged patients. At that time, the Chinese government had announced 11,791 confirmed cases and 259 deaths.

Subsequently, the numbers displayed on QQ.com were changed to the official figures announced by the Chinese government.

Earlier, on the 26th of last month, QQ.com also caused controversy by displaying figures different from the official Chinese government announcements.

At that time, QQ.com listed 15,701 confirmed cases and 2,577 deaths, and this information spread mainly through domestic internet communities. During the same period, the Chinese government announced 1,975 confirmed cases and 56 deaths.

In response, Taiwan News reported, "Tencent's Epidemic Situation Tracker has had about three similar labeling errors," adding, "Each time the numbers were displayed on the tracker, they showed an increase compared to previous figures, making it difficult to view this as a simple labeling error."

Netizens suspect that Tencent is aware of both the actual and fabricated data and that the actual data was mistakenly displayed on the tracker.

Video taken by Pan Bing at the entrance of Wuhan Fifth Hospital on the 1st / Photo by Pang Bin, YouTube capture

On social network services (SNS) such as Twitter and various internet communities, claims continue that the Chinese government is downplaying the Wuhan pneumonia situation by announcing fewer confirmed cases and deaths than the actual numbers.

On the 1st, a video was posted on SNS showing eight bodies being placed into bags and loaded onto a vehicle within five minutes at a hospital in Wuhan. This video supported suspicions that the Chinese government was underreporting the death toll.